Star Stayc

From the fanfare of the opening crawl to the abrupt cutaway zing of the closing credits, John Williams' soundtrack to The Force Awakens does not disappoint. Williams has always been an integral part of the Star Wars experience, as familiar as the movies themselves, comforting and nostalgic. The fan anticipation and legacy baggage that came with the seventh film in this iconic series was overwhelming, being the first new film since 2005's Revenge of the Sith and the direct sequel to 1983's Return of the Jedi, yet the results are not crushed by outlandish pressure. For The Force Awakens, Williams began work in late 2014, before recording began in Los Angeles in June 2015 (the first time a Star Wars film score was not recorded at Abbey Road). He enlisted a freelance orchestra and, with the help of William Ross and Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, produced a 23-song journey connecting the past and the future of the Star Wars universe. Here, Williams combines the old and the new with expert subtlety, creating a lush experience that rewards repeat listens. Those familiar with his work on other big-budget sagas (Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones) will instantly recognize the blaring horns that propel the action, the stirring strings that intensify the tension, and the bombast that contribute to the excitement as much as the scenes portrayed on the screen.

“Revel in Time”, the third album from ARJEN ANTHONY LUCASSEN'S STAR ONE, is as much of a reaction as it is a contrast to Arjen Lucassen’s previous album, “Transitus” from Ayreon. While “Transitus” is a cinematic experience that you may almost call a musical, “Revel in Time” is a heavy album that is very riff driven and there is more focus on virtuoso musicianship. Similar to its predecessors, “Revel In Time” works as a concept album. All tracks are inspired by different movies that deal with some kind of manipulation of time. There is one thing this time around that is quite different compared to the earlier STAR ONE albums: The first two had the same cast of four singers: Floor Jansen, Russell Allen, Damian Wilson and Dan Swano. However, this time Arjen decided to generally have mainly one singer per track, and a different for almost each track. This shows especially on CD 2, the “Same Songs, Different Singers”-CD as Arjen likes to call it. The guide vocals that were recorded (for the other singers) were way too good to just be guide vocals. Thus, Arjen decided to release a second version of the songs with the guide vocals on them as CD2.